WO2008140236A1 - System and method for operating intelligence-growing cyber secretary - Google Patents
System and method for operating intelligence-growing cyber secretary Download PDFInfo
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- WO2008140236A1 WO2008140236A1 PCT/KR2008/002645 KR2008002645W WO2008140236A1 WO 2008140236 A1 WO2008140236 A1 WO 2008140236A1 KR 2008002645 W KR2008002645 W KR 2008002645W WO 2008140236 A1 WO2008140236 A1 WO 2008140236A1
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- information
- virtual secretary
- user
- secretary
- virtual
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- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims description 51
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 32
- 238000007726 management method Methods 0.000 claims description 140
- 230000036541 health Effects 0.000 claims description 27
- 238000013500 data storage Methods 0.000 claims description 8
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 claims description 8
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 8
- 238000011017 operating method Methods 0.000 description 8
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000003044 adaptive effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000013473 artificial intelligence Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000007423 decrease Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000011161 development Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 description 2
- 206010049294 Mouth injury Diseases 0.000 description 1
- 238000007792 addition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000002360 preparation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000006467 substitution reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
- G06Q10/10—Office automation; Time management
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
- A61B5/74—Details of notification to user or communication with user or patient ; user input means
- A61B5/742—Details of notification to user or communication with user or patient ; user input means using visual displays
- A61B5/744—Displaying an avatar, e.g. an animated cartoon character
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
- A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- A63F13/00—Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions
- A63F13/80—Special adaptations for executing a specific game genre or game mode
- A63F13/825—Fostering virtual characters
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
- G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
- G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q50/00—Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
- G06Q50/10—Services
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an online virtual secretary operation, and more particularly to a growing (or adaptive) intelligence virtual secretary operation system and method wherein a personified character (also referred to as a "virtual secretary") is implemented and the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed so that the virtual secretary acts like an offline secretary for an operator (or master) of the virtual secretary.
- a personified character also referred to as a "virtual secretary”
- the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed so that the virtual secretary acts like an offline secretary for an operator (or master) of the virtual secretary.
- WWW Web
- a desired website i.e., homepage
- web server using computers and acquire required information through web surfing (web search) .
- PC operation methods users only perform active management such as information search and document preparation and management.
- active management such as information search and document preparation and management.
- PC operators or users use their computers only to perform one-way information search without communication (or conversation) with their computers.
- the present invention has been made to solve the above problem in that it is difficult for PC operators or users to communicate with computers and to improve the familiarity of humans with electronic equipment (or computers) and also to prevent the decline of civilization caused by individualism that is a drawback in the modern society.
- a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system including a user terminal that a) receives a virtual secretary as a personified character according to command information from a user and stores the virtual secretary in a storage medium, b) grows the virtual secretary through learning and management, c) generates an answer to a question asked by the user and outputs a voice indicating the answer to communicate with the user, and d) connects to the Internet or the like and then searches for information using the virtual secretary, character provider terminal that connects to the virtual secretary provision server, which serves to conduct a virtual secretary business, through a communication network to provide character information and to provide information of an answer to a question, the character provider terminal being used by a character information provider who provides the character information, and a virtual secretary provision server that a) provides a character transmitted from the character provider terminal as a virtual secretary to the user terminal, b) distributes, when the user terminal searches for information using the virtual secretary, a profit made by a company that provides the
- a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary using a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system including a user terminal, a character or virtual secretary provider terminal, a communication network, a virtual secretary provision server, a user information database, a character information database, a secretary service provision database, and a company information database, the method including a virtual secretary operation procedure in the user terminal including receiving a virtual secretary as a personified character according to command information from a user and storing the virtual secretary in a storage medium, growing the stored virtual secretary through learning and management, outputting a voice indicating an answer to a question asked by the user to communicate with the user, and connecting to the Internet or the like and then searching for information using the virtual secretary, a virtual secretary operation procedure in the character provider terminal including connecting to the virtual secretary provision server, which serves to conduct a virtual secretary business, through the communication network to provide character information of the character provider terminal and to provide information of an answer to a question, and a virtual secretary operation procedure in the virtual
- the present invention has a variety of advantages.
- a virtual secretary is implemented and the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed to grow (or develop) the virtual secretary so that the virtual secretary acts like an offline secretary for an operator of the virtual secretary.
- the intelligence of the virtual secretary is improved through learning so that the virtual secretary can communicate with an operator of the virtual secretary.
- the virtual secretary is used on a computer to improve familiarity with electronic devices, thereby imparting convenience to personal life.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to the present invention
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a user terminal shown in FIG. 1;
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a character (virtual secretary) provision server shown in FIG. 1;
- FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in a virtual secretary provision server in a growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention;
- FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the user terminal in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention;
- FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the character provider terminal in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a growing (or adaptive) intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to the present invention.
- the growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system includes a user terminal 110, a character provider terminal 150, a communication network 200, a virtual secretary provision server 300, a user information database
- DB 410
- character information database 420 a character information database 420
- secretary service provision database 430 a company information database 440.
- the user terminal 110 receives a virtual secretary, which is a personified character, from the virtual secretary (or character) provision server 300 according to command information from a user and stores the virtual secretary in a storage medium.
- the user terminal 110 also grows (or develops) the virtual secretary through learning and management and generates an answer to a question asked by the user and outputs a voice indicating the answer.
- the user terminal 110 also connects to the Internet or the like and then searches for information using the virtual secretary.
- the user terminal 110 may be a personal computer (PC) operated by the user.
- the user terminal 110 includes a communication interface unit 111, a control module 112, a voice recognition module 114, an answer generation module 116, an information storage medium 117, and a secretary information management module 118.
- the communication interface unit 111 is connected to the communication network 200, which allows connection to the Internet or the like, to interface data.
- the control module 112 controls the overall operation of the user terminal 110. Specifically, the control module 112 controls growth (or development) of the virtual secretary, information search using the virtual secretary, and voice recognition and output of questions and answers exchanged between the virtual secretary and the user.
- the voice recognition module 114 recognizes a voice of the user input through a microphone 113.
- the answer generation module 116 generates an answer to the recognized voice and generates and outputs a corresponding voice signal through a speaker 115.
- the information storage medium 117 stores various information such as secretary information, PC management information, schedule management information, business management information, secretary education management information, health management information, and payment information.
- the secretary information management module 118 manages basic information of the virtual secretary.
- the user terminal 110 further includes a PC management module 119, schedule management module 120, a business management module 121, a secretary education management module 122, a health management module 123, an information search module 124, and a payment module 125.
- the PC management module 119 performs overall management for computer operation.
- the schedule management module 120 stores schedule information input by the user in the information storage medium 117 and manages the stored schedule information.
- the business management module 121 stores information regarding business conducted by the user in the information storage medium 117 and manages the stored business information.
- the secretary education management module 122 functions to educate (or instruct) the virtual secretary for growth (or development) of the virtual secretary and to perform management of overall necessities including food, clothing, and shelter of the virtual secretary.
- the health management module 123 manages health of the user.
- the information search module 124 connects to the Internet and then searches for information using the virtual secretary.
- the payment module 125 performs online payment in conjunction with the information search module 124 when the user purchases a product online and manages profit distribution
- the character provider terminal 150 functions to connect to the virtual secretary provision server 300, which serves to conduct a virtual secretary business, through the communication network 200 to provide character information of the character provider terminal 150 and to provide information of an answer to a question.
- the character provider terminal 150 is a computer used by the character information provider.
- the virtual secretary provision server 300 provides a character transmitted from the character provider terminal 150 as a virtual secretary to the user terminal 110.
- the virtual secretary provision server 300 distributes a profit made by a company that provides the information.
- the virtual secretary provision server 300 also functions to send answer information, which is acquired by asking the character provider terminal 150 a question, to the user terminal 110 to impart intelligence to the virtual secretary.
- the virtual secretary provision server 300 is a computer that can function as a server. As shown in FIG. 3, the virtual secretary provision server 300 includes a communication interface unit 301, a control module 302, a user information management module 304, a character information management module 306, and a character management module 308.
- the communication interface unit 301 transmits and receives data to and from the user terminal 110 and the character provider terminal 150 in conjunction with the communication network 200.
- the control module 302 is responsible for overall control of services of the virtual secretary.
- the user information management module 304 stores and manages user information of a user who receives and uses the virtual secretary in the user information database 410.
- the character information management module 306 stores character information provided from the character provider terminal 150 as a virtual secretary in the character information database 420 and manages the stored character information.
- the character management module 308 manages information such as information regarding growth of the virtual secretary and information regarding usage of the virtual secretary.
- the virtual secretary provision server 300 further includes a payment management module 309, a profit distribution module 310, a question and answer information management module 311, and a company management module 313.
- the payment management module 309 manages payment including payment made when the user uses a virtual secretary, payment made when the character provider provides a virtual secretary, and payment of a cost occurring when making a contract with a company that provides information or when searching products of the company.
- the profit distribution module 310 appropriately distributes a profit made by services of the virtual secretary.
- the question and answer information management module 311 stores information of a question generated by the user, who uses the virtual secretary, and transmits the question information to a character provider who can answer the question and stores information of an answer to the question generated by the character provider and transmits the answer information to the user terminal that has generated the question information.
- the company management module 313 stores information of companies that sell products or the like and provide information over the Internet in the company information database 440 and manages the stored company information.
- the user information database 410 is a data storage medium which stores information of each user who receives and grows a virtual secretary and makes a profit using the virtual secretary.
- the character information database 420 is a data storage medium which stores information of a character provider who provides a virtual secretary created from a real character and information of the virtual secretary.
- the secretary service provision database 430 is a data storage medium which stores all information of secretary services.
- the company information database 440 is a data storage medium which stores information of a company that gives a profit to a business operator when a user searches for information of the company over the Internet using a virtual secretary or checks an advertisement of the company or purchases a product from the company.
- a business operator who operates the virtual secretary provision server 300 markets virtual secretaries and recruits character providers. Thereafter, when a character provider is found, the business operator negotiates with the character provider online and/or offline about portrait rights for the use of the character or the like. When the negotiation is completed, the virtual secretary provision server 300 receives the character and character information through the character provider terminal 150. In the case where the character provider cannot generate and provide their own character, the character provider may provide character information such as their real photograph to allow the virtual secretary provision server 300 to create a character of the character provider. When the character provider provides information such as a real photograph or a character, the character provider also provides information of answers to basic questions and information of answers to expert questions. The basic questions may be optionally specified by the operator of the virtual secretary provision server 300. However, preferably, questions most frequently asked by users are selected and used as the basic questions. The expert questions are questions in a specific field in which the character provider is an expert.
- the virtual secretary provision server 300 stores the character and the character information provided by the character information management module 306 as a virtual secretary in the character information database 420 and builds a virtual secretary site on the Internet and recruits users who will use the virtual secretary through marketing. The probability of making profits in the business increases as the number of virtual secretaries stored in the character information database 420 increases.
- the operator of the virtual secretary provision server 300 makes an appropriate contract with a company in order to make a profit when a user searches for information over the Internet using a virtual secretary, purchases a product from the company that provides the information, or checks an advertisement of the company through information search.
- the company management module 313 stores and manages information of the company in the company information database 440.
- the user accesses a virtual secretary site operated by the virtual secretary provision server 300 and provides basic user information and makes payment when the user needs a virtual secretary.
- the user information management module 304 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 stores the user information in the user information database 410 and the payment management module 309 processes the payment information.
- the secretary information management module 118 of the user terminal 110 stores received secretary information (for example, a personified character, information of answers to basic and expert questions, and basic information of the character) in the information storage medium 117 in conjunction with the control module 112 and generates and displays an icon (or avatar) corresponding to the virtual secretary on a screen of the user terminal 110.
- a digital information medium is preferably used as the information storage medium 117.
- the user can ask the virtual secretary displayed on the screen a question as if they are talking with a real character.
- the asked question sound is input through the microphone 113 and is then recognized and converted into data through the voice recognition module 114.
- the user can ask a question in text using a data input device such as a keyboard when the user cannot speak (for example, when the user is aphonic or has suffered a mouth injury) .
- the control module 112 directly processes the question.
- the control module 112 After recognizing the converted data (or data produced by processing the text question) , the control module 112 checks whether or not an answer to the question is present through the answer generation module 116. When an answer to the question is present, the answer generation module 116 generates and converts the answer into a voice signal and outputs the voice signal through the speaker 115. Thus, the user talks with the virtual secretary as if they are talking with a real character. For example, when the user asks the virtual secretary a voice or text question "Did you have a lunch?", the voice recognition module 114 recognizes the question and provides the recognized question to the control module 112 or the question is directly processed by the control module 112. The control module 112 controls the answer generation module 116 to check whether or not an answer to the question is present.
- the answer generation module 116 converts the answer information to a voice signal and outputs the voice signal through the speaker 115.
- the control module 112 transmits the question information to the virtual secretary provision server 300 through the communication interface unit 111.
- the question and answer information management module 311 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 stores question information received from the user terminal 110 and other user terminals in the secretary service provision database 430. If an answer provided by another virtual secretary is present, the question and answer information management module 311 provides the answer to the user terminal 110. If no answer provided by another virtual secretary is present, the question and answer information management module 311 searches for a character provider terminal 150 that can offer an optimal answer to the question and transmits the question information to the character provider terminal 150 when an appropriate period has elapsed or when the character provider terminal 150 has accessed the virtual secretary provision server 300. As described above, questions for the virtual secretary include basic and expert questions and users ask a basic or expert question according to their need.
- the virtual secretary provision server 300 shares question and answer information of all virtual secretaries . If no other virtual secretaries have an answer to the question, the virtual secretary provision server 300 searches for a virtual secretary (character provider) which can answer the question and asks the found virtual secretary the question. Using the character provider terminal 150, the character provider generates an appropriate answer to the question received from the virtual secretary provision server 300 and transmits the answer to the virtual secretary provision server 300.
- the question and answer information management module 311 stores the answer information in the secretary service provision database 430 and transmits the answer to the user terminal at an appropriate time.
- the secretary information management module 118 of the user terminal 110 stores the answer information in the information storage medium 117 and the secretary education management module 122 teaches the virtual secretary (i.e., allows the virtual secretary to learn) using the answer to improve intelligence of the virtual secretary.
- the user terminal 110 offers the answer to the question through voice or text data using the virtual secretary. In this manner, the user can obtain answers not only to questions for the virtual secretary but also to questions in any other field.
- the command is sent to the PC management module 119 through the virtual secretary and the PC management module 119 retrieves PC management state information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the PC management state information on the screen.
- the virtual secretary explains the PC management state via voice
- the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the PC management state to the user.
- the PC management state information can easily be converted into a voice using a data to voice conversion function included in the answer generation module 116.
- body or lip movements of the icon of the virtual secretary are controlled to be harmonized with the voice, it is possible to increase the feeling of having a talk with a person.
- the control of body or lip movements of the virtual secretary icon can be easily implemented using known technologies for moving a character.
- the schedule management module 120 retrieves schedule information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the schedule information on the screen.
- the virtual secretary explains the schedule information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the schedule information to the user.
- the virtual secretary outputs the schedule, which is managed by the schedule management module 120, via voice when a preset event occurs so that the user can recognize the schedule even though they have not checked the schedule on their own.
- the business management module 121 retrieves business state information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the business state information on the screen.
- the virtual secretary explains the business state information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the business state information to the user.
- the health management module 123 retrieves health management information of the user from the information storage medium 117 and displays the health management information on the screen.
- the virtual secretary explains the health management information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the health management information to the user.
- the user needs not only to educate the virtual secretary but also to provide necessities including food, clothing, and shelter to the virtual secretary.
- the driving instruction is provided not only to the user but also to the virtual secretary.
- Various education other than the driving instruction may also be performed.
- the education level of the virtual secretary increases.
- the user also needs to appropriately change clothing of the virtual secretary depending on the season. If the user views a house where they desire to live or views food that they desire to eat on the Internet, this causes the virtual secretary to reside in the new house or eat the food.
- the information search module 124 operates to cause the virtual secretary to act as if the virtual secretary searches for information.
- this information is transmitted to the virtual secretary provision server 300 through the control module 112 and the communication interface unit 111.
- the company management module 313 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 checks whether or not a profit is made when the user views an advertisement of the company or purchases a product of the company and provides, if a profit is made, the profit to the profit distribution module 310. Then, the profit distribution module 310 appropriately distributes the profit to the business operator and the user. As the profit is distributed to the user, the payment management module 309 pays a corresponding amount of profit money to the user online.
- a financial institution should be involved for the profit payment. A detailed description of the payment method is omitted herein since the present invention employs a known online payment method without modification.
- the user can obtain information of the payment amount through the payment module 125 of the user terminal 110.
- the user terminal 110 may also output a voice indicating the payment information through the virtual secretary.
- the user teaches the virtual secretary to increase the level of the virtual secretary such as the intelligence or the education level of the virtual secretary.
- the virtual secretary acts as if it has an artificial intelligence so that, when having a talk with the virtual secretary on the computer, the user feels as if they are talking with a person. This increases the feeling of familiarity of the user with the electronic device and allows the user to communicate with the computer.
- the character management module 308 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 collects level information such as the education or intelligence level of the virtual secretary provided to each user and stores the collected level information in the secretary service provision database 430 and applies an advantage or penalty to each user according to the level of the corresponding virtual secretary to allow the user to improve the education or learning of the virtual secretary.
- the advantage may increase the share of a profit when the profit is distributed to the user or offer a present to the user, whereas the penalty may automatically destroy the virtual secretary.
- FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in a virtual secretary provision server in a growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention.
- S denotes a step.
- the method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the virtual secretary provision server includes the steps of SlOl) registering a character received through the character provider terminal 150 or a character created from a portrait photograph provided by a character provider as a virtual secretary; S103) registering information of a company that sells products and provides information over the Internet; S105) registering information of a user who receives and uses the virtual secretary from a website; S107) to Sill) providing, when a user selects a virtual secretary, information of the virtual secretary to the user after payment is made; S119) calculating, when the user uses the virtual secretary (or character) , a point generated by the use of the virtual secretary and changing information of the user using the calculated point, and transmitting the changed information to the user through the communication network; S121) distributing a profit made as the user uses the virtual secretary; S123) to S125) storing, when information of a question asked of the virtual secretary is received, the received question information; S127) to S129) transmitting, when an
- the character information management module 306 registers a character received through the character provider terminal 150 or a character created from a portrait photograph provided by a character provider as a virtual secretary.
- the company management module 313 registers information of a company that sells products and provides information over the Internet in the company information database 440.
- the company information is information of a company that has previously made a contract with the operator of the virtual secretary provision server 300 about viewing of advertisements of the company or purchasing of products on a sales website of the company.
- the user information management module 304 stores and manages information of a user who receives a virtual secretary in conjunction with the user information database 410.
- the method for providing the virtual secretary can be implemented to provide the virtual secretary for a fee or to provide the virtual secretary for free according to a contract. When a virtual secretary is provided, an advantage or penalty can be applied according to a contract, details of which will be described later.
- the user views virtual secretaries managed in the character management module 308 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 using the user terminal 110 and selects a desired virtual secretary.
- the user performs payment for the selected virtual secretary.
- the virtual secretary is provided for a fee
- payment of the fee is performed according to a general payment method.
- the virtual secretary is provided for free, payment is performed according to a contract made for the free use of the virtual secretary.
- the character information management module 306 transmits information of the virtual secretary selected by the user among virtual secretaries stored in the character information database 420 to the user terminal 110.
- the information of the virtual secretary includes icon information of the virtual secretary, basic Bibliographical information, information of answers to basic questions, information of answers to expert questions, manual information describing the usage of the virtual secretary, etc.
- the character information management module 306 checks whether or not the user uses the virtual secretary or character.
- the use of the virtual secretary includes information search over the Internet, sale or purchase of products, education and learning of the virtual secretary to increase the level of the virtual secretary, etc.
- a usage point is calculated each time the virtual secretary is used.
- the usage point is conceptually similar to a point that is provided to the user when they purchases a product or checks an advertisement.
- the information of the user is changed at step S117. If the information of the user is changed, the changed information is transmitted to the user via email or the like at step S119. In another method, the changed information may be transmitted using an SMS message.
- the profit distribution module 310 distributes a profit made as the user uses the virtual secretary when a predetermined period has elapsed or at regular intervals based on a contract made with the user for the use of the virtual secretary.
- the question and answer information management module 311 stores the question information in the secretary service provision database 430 at step S125.
- the question information is information of a question that the user transmits to the virtual secretary provision server 300 when the virtual secretary did not answer the question although the user, who receives and uses the virtual secretary, asked the virtual secretary the question.
- the question and answer information management module 311 checks whether or not an answer to the question is present. If the checked result is that an answer to the question is stored in the secretary service provision database 430, the question and answer information management module 311 transmits information of an answer to the question to every user at step S129. However, if no answer to the question is present, the question and answer information management module 311 selects another virtual secretary provider who can answer the question (S130) . This is in order to provide an answer to the question to the user even when the question belongs to a field other than the field of the virtual secretary provider and thus the virtual secretary provider cannot answer the question although there is no problem when the virtual secretary provider can answer the question.
- the question and answer information management module 311 transmits question information to the character provider at a predetermined time or periodically based on a contract that was already made with the character provider. Upon checking this question information, the character provider generates an answer to the question and transmits the answer to the virtual secretary provision server 300.
- the question and answer information management module 311 receives and stores the answer at step S133 and then returns to step S129 to provide the answer information to every user who uses the virtual secretary.
- the purpose of providing the answer to the question asked by the specific user to every user who uses the virtual secretary is to teach the virtual secretary (i.e., to allow the virtual secretary to learn) to impart intelligence to the virtual secretary.
- the present invention collects question information generated from each user and again asks the character provider the collected question to acquire information of an answer to the question and then provides the answer information to every user, thereby improving the intelligence of the virtual secretary.
- the virtual secretary can answer the question so that the user feels as if they are talking with an offline secretary. This increases the time during which the user talks with the virtual secretary and thus increases the time during which the user uses the computer and the time during which the user searches for information over the Internet. This gives profits not only to the business operator who provides the virtual secretary but also to the user.
- FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the user terminal in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention.
- the method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the user terminal includes the steps of S201) registering the user in the virtual secretary provision server 300, S203) selecting a virtual secretary for use and making payment; S205) receiving and storing information of the virtual secretary provided to the user; S207) checking whether or not a question has been generated; S209) recognizing, when a question is generated, voice or text of the generated question; S211) and S213) checking whether or not an answer to the question is present and generating answer data when an answer to the question is present and converting the answer data into a voice signal and outputting the voice signal through a speaker; S215) to S219) transmitting question information to the virtual secretary provision server when no answer to the question is present and storing, when an answer is received, the received answer; and S221) to S245) providing, when the user requests use of the virtual secretary
- the steps of S221) to S245) providing the state information to the user through the virtual secretary include the steps of S221) and S223) extracting and displaying, when a schedule is requested, schedule information on a screen and notifying the user of the schedule information through the virtual secretary; S225) and S227) extracting and displaying, when a PC management state is requested, PC management state information on the screen and notifying the user of the PC management state information through the virtual secretary; S229) and S231) extracting and displaying, when a business state is requested, business state information on the screen and notifying the user of the business state information through the virtual secretary; S233) and S237) extracting and displaying, when information search is requested, search result information obtained by performing the information search over the Internet on the screen and notifying the user of the search result information through the virtual secretary; S239) and S241) extracting and displaying, when a health management state is requested, health management state information on the screen and notifying the user of the health management state information through the virtual secretary; and S243) and S245)
- the secretary information management module 118 registers the user in the virtual secretary provision server 300 and selects a virtual secretary and then the payment module 125 makes payment for the use of the virtual secretary.
- the virtual secretary is provided for a fee
- payment of the fee is performed according to a general payment method.
- the virtual secretary is provided for free
- payment is performed according to a contract made for the free use of the virtual secretary.
- the user terminal 110 receives information of the selected virtual secretary from the virtual secretary provision server 300 and the secretary information management module 118 stores the received virtual secretary information in the information storage medium 117.
- a corresponding program is activated to cause the secretary information management module 118 to generate and display an icon of the virtual secretary on the screen.
- the voice recognition module 114 recognizes the question at steps S207 and S209 and checks whether or not an answer to the question is present at step S211.
- the control module 112 recognizes the question.
- the answer generation module 116 When an answer to the question is present, the answer generation module 116 generates corresponding answer information at step S213 and converts the generated answer information into a voice or text signal and outputs the voice signal through the speaker 115 or displays the text signal on the screen of the user terminal. This enables conversation between the user and the virtual secretary.
- the user terminal 110 proceeds to step S215 at which the control module 112 transmits the question information to the virtual secretary provision server 300.
- the answer is stored in the information storage medium 117. Thereafter, the secretary education management module 122 teaches the virtual secretary using the answer to improve the intelligence of the virtual secretary.
- the following is a description of a method for using a growing intelligence virtual secretary.
- a corresponding command is sent to the schedule management module 120 through the virtual secretary and the schedule management module 120 retrieves schedule information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the schedule information on the screen at step S223.
- the virtual secretary explains the schedule information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the schedule information to the user.
- the virtual secretary outputs the schedule, which is managed by the schedule management module 120, through voice or text when a preset event occurs so that the user can recognize the schedule even though they did not check the schedule on their own .
- the command is sent to the PC management module 119 through the virtual secretary and the PC management module 119 retrieves PC management state information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the PC management state information on the screen at step S227.
- the virtual secretary explains the PC management state via voice
- the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the PC management state to the user.
- the PC management state information can easily be converted into a voice using a data to voice conversion function included in the answer generation module 116.
- body or lip movements of the icon of the virtual secretary are controlled to be harmonized with the voice, it is possible to increase the feeling of having a talk with a person.
- the control of body or lip movements of the virtual secretary icon can be easily implemented using known technologies for moving a character.
- the business management module 121 retrieves business state information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the business state information on the screen at step S231.
- the virtual secretary explains the business state information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the business state information to the user.
- the information search module 124 operates to cause the virtual secretary to act as if the virtual secretary searches for information.
- the company management module 313 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 checks whether or not a profit is made when the user views an advertisement of the company or purchases a product of the company and provides, if a profit is made, the profit to the profit distribution module 310. Then, the profit distribution module 310 appropriately distributes the profit to the business operator and the user. As the profit is distributed to the user, the payment management module 309 pays a corresponding amount of profit money to the user online.
- a financial institution should be involved for the profit payment.
- the user can obtain information of the payment amount through the payment module 125 of the user terminal 110.
- the user terminal 110 may also output a voice indicating the payment information through the virtual secretary.
- a corresponding command is sent to the health management module 123 through the virtual secretary at step S241 and the health management module 123 retrieves health management information of the user from the information storage medium 117 and displays the health management information on the screen.
- the virtual secretary explains the health management information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the health management information to the user.
- the user requests education state information and is notified of education state information in response to the request.
- Direct education may also be performed.
- the driving instruction is provided not only to the user but also to the virtual secretary.
- Various education other than the driving instruction may be performed.
- the education level of the virtual secretary increases.
- the user also needs to appropriately change clothing of the virtual secretary depending on the season. If the user views a house where they desire to live or views food that they desire to eat on the Internet, this causes the virtual secretary to reside in the new house or eat the food.
- the user teaches the virtual secretary to increase the level of the virtual secretary such as the intelligence or the education level of the virtual secretary.
- the virtual secretary acts as if it has an artificial intelligence so that, when having a talk with the virtual secretary on the computer, the user feels as if they are talking with a person. This increases the feeling of familiarity of the user with the electronic device and allows the user to communicate with the computer.
- the character management module 308 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 collects level information such as the education or intelligence level of the virtual secretary provided to each user and stores the collected level information in the secretary service provision database 430 and applies an advantage or penalty to each user according to the level of the corresponding virtual secretary to allow the user to improve the education or learning of the virtual secretary.
- the advantage may increase the share of a profit when the profit is distributed to the user or offer a present to the user, whereas the penalty may automatically destroy the virtual secretary.
- a user at a remote place asks a question using their mobile phone and a user terminal receives the question and generates an answer to the question through a virtual secretary and then sends the answer back to the mobile phone of the user at the remote place using an SMS message or the like.
- the user terminal determines whether or not the user has made a request containing question information at a remote place or the user is currently located at a remote place.
- the generated answer is sent to the mobile terminal (for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, a notebook, etc., using wireless communication) held by the user located at the remote place. Determination as to whether or not the user has made a request containing question information at a remote place or the user is currently located at a remote place can be easily implemented by the user presetting the corresponding information.
- schedule information can be transmitted via means such as a text (or SMS) message to a personal terminal (for example, a mobile phone) of the user located at a remote place through the virtual secretary of the user terminal.
- a text (or SMS) message to a personal terminal (for example, a mobile phone) of the user located at a remote place through the virtual secretary of the user terminal.
- FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the character provider terminal in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention.
- a portrait right contract is made through agreement or the like with the virtual secretary provision server 300.
- the portrait right contract is made according to a variety of general contract methods.
- the portrait right contract is preferably performed online. If a character representing the user is present when a portrait right contract is made, the character is provided. If no character representing the user is present, a portrait photograph of the user can only be provided to the virtual secretary provision server 300 so that the virtual secretary provision server 300 generates a character from the portrait photograph.
- a virtual secretary is implemented and the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed to grow (or develop) the virtual secretary so that the virtual secretary acts like an offline secretary for an operator of the virtual secretary.
- the intelligence of the virtual secretary is improved through learning so that the virtual secretary can communicate with an operator of the virtual secretary.
- the virtual secretary is used on a computer to improve familiarity with electronic devices, thereby imparting convenience to personal life.
- the present invention has a variety of advantages. For example, it is possible to achieve human communication between PC operators or users and computers, thereby improving the familiarity of humans with electronic equipment (or computers) while preventing the decline of civilization caused by individualism that is a drawback in the modern society.
- the virtual secretary is implemented on a computer such that the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed, thereby providing a virtual secretary similar to an offline secretary to an operator of the virtual secretary.
- the present invention provides a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system and method wherein the intelligence of a virtual secretary is improved through learning so that the virtual secretary can communicate with an operator of the virtual secretary.
- the present invention provides a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system and method wherein a virtual secretary is used on a computer to improve familiarity with electronic devices, thereby imparting convenience to personal life.
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Abstract
The user terminal receives and stores a virtual secretary according to a command from a user, grows it through learning and management, generates an answer to a question asked by the user and outputs voice indicating the answer to communicate with the user, and connects to the Internet and searches for information using the virtual secretary. The character provider terminal connects to the server for conducting a secretary business through the communication network to provide character information and to provide an answer to a question. The server provides a character transmitted from the character provider terminal as a virtual secretary to the user terminal, and distributes, when information is searched using the secretary, a profit made by a company that provides the information, and sends answer information, acquired by asking the character provider terminal a question, to the user terminal to impart intelligence to the secretary.
Description
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING INTELLIGENCE-GROWING CYBER SECRETARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an online virtual secretary operation, and more particularly to a growing (or adaptive) intelligence virtual secretary operation system and method wherein a personified character (also referred to as a "virtual secretary") is implemented and the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed so that the virtual secretary acts like an offline secretary for an operator (or master) of the virtual secretary.
Description of the Related Art
Recently, the number of netizens who use the World Wide
Web (WWW) is on a dramatic rise. Netizens gain access to a desired website (i.e., homepage) on the Internet through a web server using computers and acquire required information through web surfing (web search) .
In currently used PC operation methods, users only perform active management such as information search and document preparation and management. For example, PC operators or users use their computers only to perform one-way
information search without communication (or conversation) with their computers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made to solve the above problem in that it is difficult for PC operators or users to communicate with computers and to improve the familiarity of humans with electronic equipment (or computers) and also to prevent the decline of humanity caused by individualism that is a drawback in the modern society.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a growing (or adaptive) intelligence virtual secretary operation system and method wherein a virtual secretary is implemented and the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed so that the virtual secretary acts like an offline secretary for an operator of the virtual secretary.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system and method wherein the intelligence of a virtual secretary is improved through learning so that the virtual secretary can communicate with an operator of the virtual secretary to some extent .
It is another object of the present invention to provide a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system and
method wherein a virtual secretary is used on a computer to improve familiarity with electronic devices, thereby imparting convenience to personal life.
In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system including a user terminal that a) receives a virtual secretary as a personified character according to command information from a user and stores the virtual secretary in a storage medium, b) grows the virtual secretary through learning and management, c) generates an answer to a question asked by the user and outputs a voice indicating the answer to communicate with the user, and d) connects to the Internet or the like and then searches for information using the virtual secretary, character provider terminal that connects to the virtual secretary provision server, which serves to conduct a virtual secretary business, through a communication network to provide character information and to provide information of an answer to a question, the character provider terminal being used by a character information provider who provides the character information, and a virtual secretary provision server that a) provides a character transmitted from the character provider terminal as a virtual secretary to the user terminal, b) distributes, when the user terminal searches for information using the virtual secretary, a profit made by a company that
provides the information, and c) sends answer information, which is acquired by asking the character provider terminal a question, to the user terminal to impart intelligence to the virtual secretary. In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can also be accomplished by the provision of a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary using a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system including a user terminal, a character or virtual secretary provider terminal, a communication network, a virtual secretary provision server, a user information database, a character information database, a secretary service provision database, and a company information database, the method including a virtual secretary operation procedure in the user terminal including receiving a virtual secretary as a personified character according to command information from a user and storing the virtual secretary in a storage medium, growing the stored virtual secretary through learning and management, outputting a voice indicating an answer to a question asked by the user to communicate with the user, and connecting to the Internet or the like and then searching for information using the virtual secretary, a virtual secretary operation procedure in the character provider terminal including connecting to the virtual secretary provision server, which serves to conduct a virtual
secretary business, through the communication network to provide character information of the character provider terminal and to provide information of an answer to a question, and a virtual secretary operation procedure in the virtual secretary provision server including providing a character transmitted from the character provider terminal as a virtual secretary to the user terminal and distributing, when the user terminal searches for information using the virtual secretary, a profit made by a company that provides the information, and sending answer information, which is acquired by asking the character provider terminal a question, to the user terminal to impart intelligence to the virtual secretary.
The present invention has a variety of advantages. For example, a virtual secretary is implemented and the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed to grow (or develop) the virtual secretary so that the virtual secretary acts like an offline secretary for an operator of the virtual secretary. In addition, the intelligence of the virtual secretary is improved through learning so that the virtual secretary can communicate with an operator of the virtual secretary. Further, the virtual secretary is used on a computer to improve familiarity with electronic devices, thereby imparting convenience to personal life.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a user terminal shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a character (virtual secretary) provision server shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in a virtual secretary provision server in a growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the user terminal in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the
character provider terminal in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention.
- Reference Numerals of Main Parts of the Drawings - 110: user terminal
150: character provider terminal
200: communication network
300: virtual secretary provision server
410: user information database 420: character information database
430: secretary service provision database
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may obscure the subject matter of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a growing (or adaptive) intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system includes a user terminal 110, a character
provider terminal 150, a communication network 200, a virtual secretary provision server 300, a user information database
(DB) 410, a character information database 420, a secretary service provision database 430, and a company information database 440.
As shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal 110 receives a virtual secretary, which is a personified character, from the virtual secretary (or character) provision server 300 according to command information from a user and stores the virtual secretary in a storage medium. The user terminal 110 also grows (or develops) the virtual secretary through learning and management and generates an answer to a question asked by the user and outputs a voice indicating the answer. The user terminal 110 also connects to the Internet or the like and then searches for information using the virtual secretary. The user terminal 110 may be a personal computer (PC) operated by the user.
As shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal 110 includes a communication interface unit 111, a control module 112, a voice recognition module 114, an answer generation module 116, an information storage medium 117, and a secretary information management module 118. The communication interface unit 111 is connected to the communication network 200, which allows connection to the Internet or the like, to interface data. The control module 112 controls the overall operation of the
user terminal 110. Specifically, the control module 112 controls growth (or development) of the virtual secretary, information search using the virtual secretary, and voice recognition and output of questions and answers exchanged between the virtual secretary and the user. The voice recognition module 114 recognizes a voice of the user input through a microphone 113. The answer generation module 116 generates an answer to the recognized voice and generates and outputs a corresponding voice signal through a speaker 115. The information storage medium 117 stores various information such as secretary information, PC management information, schedule management information, business management information, secretary education management information, health management information, and payment information. The secretary information management module 118 manages basic information of the virtual secretary.
Preferably, the user terminal 110 further includes a PC management module 119, schedule management module 120, a business management module 121, a secretary education management module 122, a health management module 123, an information search module 124, and a payment module 125. The PC management module 119 performs overall management for computer operation. The schedule management module 120 stores schedule information input by the user in the information storage medium 117 and manages the stored schedule
information. The business management module 121 stores information regarding business conducted by the user in the information storage medium 117 and manages the stored business information. The secretary education management module 122 functions to educate (or instruct) the virtual secretary for growth (or development) of the virtual secretary and to perform management of overall necessities including food, clothing, and shelter of the virtual secretary. The health management module 123 manages health of the user. The information search module 124 connects to the Internet and then searches for information using the virtual secretary. The payment module 125 performs online payment in conjunction with the information search module 124 when the user purchases a product online and manages profit distribution information provided from the virtual secretary provision server 300.
The character provider terminal 150 functions to connect to the virtual secretary provision server 300, which serves to conduct a virtual secretary business, through the communication network 200 to provide character information of the character provider terminal 150 and to provide information of an answer to a question. The character provider terminal 150 is a computer used by the character information provider.
The virtual secretary provision server 300 provides a character transmitted from the character provider terminal 150 as a virtual secretary to the user terminal 110. When the
user terminal 110 searches for information using the virtual secretary, the virtual secretary provision server 300 distributes a profit made by a company that provides the information. The virtual secretary provision server 300 also functions to send answer information, which is acquired by asking the character provider terminal 150 a question, to the user terminal 110 to impart intelligence to the virtual secretary. The virtual secretary provision server 300 is a computer that can function as a server. As shown in FIG. 3, the virtual secretary provision server 300 includes a communication interface unit 301, a control module 302, a user information management module 304, a character information management module 306, and a character management module 308. The communication interface unit 301 transmits and receives data to and from the user terminal 110 and the character provider terminal 150 in conjunction with the communication network 200. The control module 302 is responsible for overall control of services of the virtual secretary. The user information management module 304 stores and manages user information of a user who receives and uses the virtual secretary in the user information database 410. The character information management module 306 stores character information provided from the character provider terminal 150 as a virtual secretary in the character information database 420 and manages the stored character
information. The character management module 308 manages information such as information regarding growth of the virtual secretary and information regarding usage of the virtual secretary. Preferably, the virtual secretary provision server 300 further includes a payment management module 309, a profit distribution module 310, a question and answer information management module 311, and a company management module 313. The payment management module 309 manages payment including payment made when the user uses a virtual secretary, payment made when the character provider provides a virtual secretary, and payment of a cost occurring when making a contract with a company that provides information or when searching products of the company. The profit distribution module 310 appropriately distributes a profit made by services of the virtual secretary. The question and answer information management module 311 stores information of a question generated by the user, who uses the virtual secretary, and transmits the question information to a character provider who can answer the question and stores information of an answer to the question generated by the character provider and transmits the answer information to the user terminal that has generated the question information. The company management module 313 stores information of companies that sell products or the like and provide information over the Internet in the company
information database 440 and manages the stored company information.
The user information database 410 is a data storage medium which stores information of each user who receives and grows a virtual secretary and makes a profit using the virtual secretary. The character information database 420 is a data storage medium which stores information of a character provider who provides a virtual secretary created from a real character and information of the virtual secretary. The secretary service provision database 430 is a data storage medium which stores all information of secretary services. The company information database 440 is a data storage medium which stores information of a company that gives a profit to a business operator when a user searches for information of the company over the Internet using a virtual secretary or checks an advertisement of the company or purchases a product from the company.
In the growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to the present invention constructed as described above, a business operator who operates the virtual secretary provision server 300 markets virtual secretaries and recruits character providers. Thereafter, when a character provider is found, the business operator negotiates with the character provider online and/or offline about portrait rights for the use of the character or the like. When the
negotiation is completed, the virtual secretary provision server 300 receives the character and character information through the character provider terminal 150. In the case where the character provider cannot generate and provide their own character, the character provider may provide character information such as their real photograph to allow the virtual secretary provision server 300 to create a character of the character provider. When the character provider provides information such as a real photograph or a character, the character provider also provides information of answers to basic questions and information of answers to expert questions. The basic questions may be optionally specified by the operator of the virtual secretary provision server 300. However, preferably, questions most frequently asked by users are selected and used as the basic questions. The expert questions are questions in a specific field in which the character provider is an expert.
The virtual secretary provision server 300 stores the character and the character information provided by the character information management module 306 as a virtual secretary in the character information database 420 and builds a virtual secretary site on the Internet and recruits users who will use the virtual secretary through marketing. The probability of making profits in the business increases as the number of virtual secretaries stored in the character
information database 420 increases.
The operator of the virtual secretary provision server 300 makes an appropriate contract with a company in order to make a profit when a user searches for information over the Internet using a virtual secretary, purchases a product from the company that provides the information, or checks an advertisement of the company through information search. When the contract is made, the company management module 313 stores and manages information of the company in the company information database 440.
Using the user terminal 110, the user accesses a virtual secretary site operated by the virtual secretary provision server 300 and provides basic user information and makes payment when the user needs a virtual secretary. The user information management module 304 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 stores the user information in the user information database 410 and the payment management module 309 processes the payment information.
The secretary information management module 118 of the user terminal 110 stores received secretary information (for example, a personified character, information of answers to basic and expert questions, and basic information of the character) in the information storage medium 117 in conjunction with the control module 112 and generates and displays an icon (or avatar) corresponding to the virtual
secretary on a screen of the user terminal 110. A digital information medium is preferably used as the information storage medium 117.
Thereafter, the user can ask the virtual secretary displayed on the screen a question as if they are talking with a real character. The asked question sound is input through the microphone 113 and is then recognized and converted into data through the voice recognition module 114. The user can ask a question in text using a data input device such as a keyboard when the user cannot speak (for example, when the user is aphonic or has suffered a mouth injury) . When the question is in text form, the control module 112 directly processes the question.
After recognizing the converted data (or data produced by processing the text question) , the control module 112 checks whether or not an answer to the question is present through the answer generation module 116. When an answer to the question is present, the answer generation module 116 generates and converts the answer into a voice signal and outputs the voice signal through the speaker 115. Thus, the user talks with the virtual secretary as if they are talking with a real character. For example, when the user asks the virtual secretary a voice or text question "Did you have a lunch?", the voice recognition module 114 recognizes the question and provides the recognized question to the control
module 112 or the question is directly processed by the control module 112. The control module 112 controls the answer generation module 116 to check whether or not an answer to the question is present. If an answer is present, for example if an answer of "Yes, I ate a lot" is present, the answer generation module 116 converts the answer information to a voice signal and outputs the voice signal through the speaker 115. Thus, the user can talk with the virtual secretary as if they are talking with a person. If no appropriate answer to the question asked by the user is present, the control module 112 transmits the question information to the virtual secretary provision server 300 through the communication interface unit 111.
The question and answer information management module 311 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 stores question information received from the user terminal 110 and other user terminals in the secretary service provision database 430. If an answer provided by another virtual secretary is present, the question and answer information management module 311 provides the answer to the user terminal 110. If no answer provided by another virtual secretary is present, the question and answer information management module 311 searches for a character provider terminal 150 that can offer an optimal answer to the question and transmits the question information to the character provider terminal 150
when an appropriate period has elapsed or when the character provider terminal 150 has accessed the virtual secretary provision server 300. As described above, questions for the virtual secretary include basic and expert questions and users ask a basic or expert question according to their need. When the question is a basic question, an answer to the question may already be present or the question may be readily answered by another virtual secretary or character provider. However, when the question is an expert question, for example in a law or medical field, the virtual secretary that the user receives and uses cannot answer the question if the virtual secretary is not an expert in that field. Accordingly, in the present invention, the virtual secretary provision server 300 shares question and answer information of all virtual secretaries . If no other virtual secretaries have an answer to the question, the virtual secretary provision server 300 searches for a virtual secretary (character provider) which can answer the question and asks the found virtual secretary the question. Using the character provider terminal 150, the character provider generates an appropriate answer to the question received from the virtual secretary provision server 300 and transmits the answer to the virtual secretary provision server 300. Upon receiving the answer information, the question and answer information management module 311 stores the answer
information in the secretary service provision database 430 and transmits the answer to the user terminal at an appropriate time.
The secretary information management module 118 of the user terminal 110 stores the answer information in the information storage medium 117 and the secretary education management module 122 teaches the virtual secretary (i.e., allows the virtual secretary to learn) using the answer to improve intelligence of the virtual secretary. Here, the user terminal 110 offers the answer to the question through voice or text data using the virtual secretary. In this manner, the user can obtain answers not only to questions for the virtual secretary but also to questions in any other field.
Then, when the user inputs a voice or text command for checking the state of their own computer (PC) (i.e., the user terminal 110), the command is sent to the PC management module 119 through the virtual secretary and the PC management module 119 retrieves PC management state information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the PC management state information on the screen. Here, if the virtual secretary explains the PC management state via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the PC management state to the user. Here, the PC management state information can easily be converted into a voice using a data to voice conversion function included in the answer generation
module 116. If body or lip movements of the icon of the virtual secretary are controlled to be harmonized with the voice, it is possible to increase the feeling of having a talk with a person. The control of body or lip movements of the virtual secretary icon can be easily implemented using known technologies for moving a character.
In addition, if the user makes a voice or text request to provide their schedule information, a corresponding command is sent to the schedule management module 120 through the virtual secretary and the schedule management module 120 retrieves schedule information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the schedule information on the screen. Here, if the virtual secretary explains the schedule information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the schedule information to the user. Here, even when the user makes no schedule request, the virtual secretary outputs the schedule, which is managed by the schedule management module 120, via voice when a preset event occurs so that the user can recognize the schedule even though they have not checked the schedule on their own.
Further, if the user makes a voice or text request to provide business state information, a corresponding command is sent to the business management module 121 through the virtual secretary and the business management module 121 retrieves business state information from the information storage medium
117 and displays the business state information on the screen. Here, if the virtual secretary explains the business state information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the business state information to the user.
Furthermore, if the user makes a voice or text request to provide a health management state, a corresponding command is sent to the health management module 123 through the virtual secretary and the health management module 123 retrieves health management information of the user from the information storage medium 117 and displays the health management information on the screen. Here, if the virtual secretary explains the health management information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the health management information to the user.
On the other hand, the user needs not only to educate the virtual secretary but also to provide necessities including food, clothing, and shelter to the virtual secretary. For example, when driving instruction for taking a driver' s license exam or the like is performed using the virtual secretary, the driving instruction is provided not only to the user but also to the virtual secretary. Various education other than the driving instruction may also be performed. As the amount of education performed on the user increases, the education level of the virtual secretary
increases. The user also needs to appropriately change clothing of the virtual secretary depending on the season. If the user views a house where they desire to live or views food that they desire to eat on the Internet, this causes the virtual secretary to reside in the new house or eat the food.
Further, when the user performs an Internet search, the information search module 124 operates to cause the virtual secretary to act as if the virtual secretary searches for information. When the user views an advertisement of a specific company or purchases a product of the company, this information is transmitted to the virtual secretary provision server 300 through the control module 112 and the communication interface unit 111.
In conjunction with the company information database 440, the company management module 313 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 checks whether or not a profit is made when the user views an advertisement of the company or purchases a product of the company and provides, if a profit is made, the profit to the profit distribution module 310. Then, the profit distribution module 310 appropriately distributes the profit to the business operator and the user. As the profit is distributed to the user, the payment management module 309 pays a corresponding amount of profit money to the user online. Here, a financial institution should be involved for the profit payment. A detailed
description of the payment method is omitted herein since the present invention employs a known online payment method without modification.
The user can obtain information of the payment amount through the payment module 125 of the user terminal 110. The user terminal 110 may also output a voice indicating the payment information through the virtual secretary.
On the other hand, the user teaches the virtual secretary to increase the level of the virtual secretary such as the intelligence or the education level of the virtual secretary. When the education level or the intelligence of the virtual secretary is increased to some extent, the virtual secretary acts as if it has an artificial intelligence so that, when having a talk with the virtual secretary on the computer, the user feels as if they are talking with a person. This increases the feeling of familiarity of the user with the electronic device and allows the user to communicate with the computer.
The character management module 308 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 collects level information such as the education or intelligence level of the virtual secretary provided to each user and stores the collected level information in the secretary service provision database 430 and applies an advantage or penalty to each user according to the level of the corresponding virtual secretary to allow the
user to improve the education or learning of the virtual secretary. The advantage may increase the share of a profit when the profit is distributed to the user or offer a present to the user, whereas the penalty may automatically destroy the virtual secretary.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in a virtual secretary provision server in a growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, "S" denotes a step.
As shown in FIG. 4, the method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the virtual secretary provision server includes the steps of SlOl) registering a character received through the character provider terminal 150 or a character created from a portrait photograph provided by a character provider as a virtual secretary; S103) registering information of a company that sells products and provides information over the Internet; S105) registering information of a user who receives and uses the virtual secretary from a website; S107) to Sill) providing, when a user selects a virtual secretary, information of the virtual secretary to the user after payment is made; S119) calculating, when the user uses the virtual secretary (or character) , a point generated by the use of the virtual secretary and changing information of the user using the calculated point, and transmitting the
changed information to the user through the communication network; S121) distributing a profit made as the user uses the virtual secretary; S123) to S125) storing, when information of a question asked of the virtual secretary is received, the received question information; S127) to S129) transmitting, when an answer to the question is present, information of the answer to the user; and S130) to S133) selecting, when no answer to the question is present, a virtual secretary (or character) provider who can answer the question and transmitting information of the question to the selected character provider and storing, when an answer to the question is received, the received answer.
The following is a more detailed description of the method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the virtual secretary provision server in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention. First, at step SlOl) , the character information management module 306 registers a character received through the character provider terminal 150 or a character created from a portrait photograph provided by a character provider as a virtual secretary.
Then, at step S103) , the company management module 313 registers information of a company that sells products and provides information over the Internet in the company information database 440. Here, the company information is
information of a company that has previously made a contract with the operator of the virtual secretary provision server 300 about viewing of advertisements of the company or purchasing of products on a sales website of the company. Then, at step S105) , the user information management module 304 stores and manages information of a user who receives a virtual secretary in conjunction with the user information database 410. Here, the method for providing the virtual secretary can be implemented to provide the virtual secretary for a fee or to provide the virtual secretary for free according to a contract. When a virtual secretary is provided, an advantage or penalty can be applied according to a contract, details of which will be described later.
At step S107), the user views virtual secretaries managed in the character management module 308 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 using the user terminal 110 and selects a desired virtual secretary. At step S109) , the user performs payment for the selected virtual secretary. When the virtual secretary is provided for a fee, payment of the fee is performed according to a general payment method. When the virtual secretary is provided for free, payment is performed according to a contract made for the free use of the virtual secretary.
After payment is completed, at step Sill, the character information management module 306 transmits information of the
virtual secretary selected by the user among virtual secretaries stored in the character information database 420 to the user terminal 110. In this case, the information of the virtual secretary includes icon information of the virtual secretary, basic bibliographical information, information of answers to basic questions, information of answers to expert questions, manual information describing the usage of the virtual secretary, etc.
At step S113, the character information management module 306 checks whether or not the user uses the virtual secretary or character. The use of the virtual secretary includes information search over the Internet, sale or purchase of products, education and learning of the virtual secretary to increase the level of the virtual secretary, etc. At step S115, a usage point is calculated each time the virtual secretary is used. Here, the usage point is conceptually similar to a point that is provided to the user when they purchases a product or checks an advertisement.
If the point of the user is changed in this manner, the information of the user (virtual secretary) is changed at step S117. If the information of the user is changed, the changed information is transmitted to the user via email or the like at step S119. In another method, the changed information may be transmitted using an SMS message. At step S121, the profit distribution module 310 distributes a profit made as the user
uses the virtual secretary when a predetermined period has elapsed or at regular intervals based on a contract made with the user for the use of the virtual secretary.
On the other hand, if question information is received from the user at step S123, the question and answer information management module 311 stores the question information in the secretary service provision database 430 at step S125. Here, the question information is information of a question that the user transmits to the virtual secretary provision server 300 when the virtual secretary did not answer the question although the user, who receives and uses the virtual secretary, asked the virtual secretary the question.
At step S127, the question and answer information management module 311 checks whether or not an answer to the question is present. If the checked result is that an answer to the question is stored in the secretary service provision database 430, the question and answer information management module 311 transmits information of an answer to the question to every user at step S129. However, if no answer to the question is present, the question and answer information management module 311 selects another virtual secretary provider who can answer the question (S130) . This is in order to provide an answer to the question to the user even when the question belongs to a field other than the field of the virtual secretary provider and thus the virtual secretary
provider cannot answer the question although there is no problem when the virtual secretary provider can answer the question.
At step S131, the question and answer information management module 311 transmits question information to the character provider at a predetermined time or periodically based on a contract that was already made with the character provider. Upon checking this question information, the character provider generates an answer to the question and transmits the answer to the virtual secretary provision server 300. The question and answer information management module 311 receives and stores the answer at step S133 and then returns to step S129 to provide the answer information to every user who uses the virtual secretary. The purpose of providing the answer to the question asked by the specific user to every user who uses the virtual secretary is to teach the virtual secretary (i.e., to allow the virtual secretary to learn) to impart intelligence to the virtual secretary. For example, when the user receives a virtual secretary for the first time, information of answers to basic questions and expert questions of the character provider is only provided to the user. Thus, the user cannot get an answer to a question other than the predetermined questions even though the user asks the question. In this case, the communication between the user and the virtual
secretary is terminated for a short time. In order to overcome this problem, the present invention collects question information generated from each user and again asks the character provider the collected question to acquire information of an answer to the question and then provides the answer information to every user, thereby improving the intelligence of the virtual secretary. In this case, even when the user asks a question other than the basic questions, the virtual secretary can answer the question so that the user feels as if they are talking with an offline secretary. This increases the time during which the user talks with the virtual secretary and thus increases the time during which the user uses the computer and the time during which the user searches for information over the Internet. This gives profits not only to the business operator who provides the virtual secretary but also to the user.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the user terminal in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the user terminal includes the steps of S201) registering the user in the virtual secretary provision server 300, S203) selecting a virtual secretary for use and making payment; S205) receiving and storing information of the
virtual secretary provided to the user; S207) checking whether or not a question has been generated; S209) recognizing, when a question is generated, voice or text of the generated question; S211) and S213) checking whether or not an answer to the question is present and generating answer data when an answer to the question is present and converting the answer data into a voice signal and outputting the voice signal through a speaker; S215) to S219) transmitting question information to the virtual secretary provision server when no answer to the question is present and storing, when an answer is received, the received answer; and S221) to S245) providing, when the user requests use of the virtual secretary, state information corresponding to a requested use item to the user through the virtual secretary. The steps of S221) to S245) providing the state information to the user through the virtual secretary include the steps of S221) and S223) extracting and displaying, when a schedule is requested, schedule information on a screen and notifying the user of the schedule information through the virtual secretary; S225) and S227) extracting and displaying, when a PC management state is requested, PC management state information on the screen and notifying the user of the PC management state information through the virtual secretary; S229) and S231) extracting and displaying, when a business state is requested, business state information on the screen
and notifying the user of the business state information through the virtual secretary; S233) and S237) extracting and displaying, when information search is requested, search result information obtained by performing the information search over the Internet on the screen and notifying the user of the search result information through the virtual secretary; S239) and S241) extracting and displaying, when a health management state is requested, health management state information on the screen and notifying the user of the health management state information through the virtual secretary; and S243) and S245) extracting and displaying, when an education state is requested, education state information on the screen and notifying the user of the education state information through the virtual secretary. The following is a more detailed description of the method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the user terminal in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention. First, at step S201), the secretary information management module 118 registers the user in the virtual secretary provision server 300 and selects a virtual secretary and then the payment module 125 makes payment for the use of the virtual secretary. When the virtual secretary is provided for a fee, payment of the fee is performed according to a general payment method. When the virtual secretary is provided for
free, payment is performed according to a contract made for the free use of the virtual secretary.
At step S205, the user terminal 110 receives information of the selected virtual secretary from the virtual secretary provision server 300 and the secretary information management module 118 stores the received virtual secretary information in the information storage medium 117. After the virtual secretary is received and stored, a corresponding program is activated to cause the secretary information management module 118 to generate and display an icon of the virtual secretary on the screen.
Then, when the user asks a question in order to talk with the virtual secretary, the voice recognition module 114 recognizes the question at steps S207 and S209 and checks whether or not an answer to the question is present at step S211. Here, when the user asks a question in text, the control module 112 recognizes the question.
When an answer to the question is present, the answer generation module 116 generates corresponding answer information at step S213 and converts the generated answer information into a voice or text signal and outputs the voice signal through the speaker 115 or displays the text signal on the screen of the user terminal. This enables conversation between the user and the virtual secretary. When no answer to the question asked by the user is
present, the user terminal 110 proceeds to step S215 at which the control module 112 transmits the question information to the virtual secretary provision server 300. When an answer to the question is received (S217), the answer is stored in the information storage medium 117. Thereafter, the secretary education management module 122 teaches the virtual secretary using the answer to improve the intelligence of the virtual secretary.
The following is a description of a method for using a growing intelligence virtual secretary.
When the user makes a voice or text request to provide their schedule information at step S221, a corresponding command is sent to the schedule management module 120 through the virtual secretary and the schedule management module 120 retrieves schedule information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the schedule information on the screen at step S223. Here, if the virtual secretary explains the schedule information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the schedule information to the user. Here, even when the user makes no schedule request, the virtual secretary outputs the schedule, which is managed by the schedule management module 120, through voice or text when a preset event occurs so that the user can recognize the schedule even though they did not check the schedule on their own .
Then, when the user inputs a voice or text command for checking the state of their own computer (PC) at step S225, the command is sent to the PC management module 119 through the virtual secretary and the PC management module 119 retrieves PC management state information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the PC management state information on the screen at step S227. Here, if the virtual secretary explains the PC management state via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the PC management state to the user. Here, the PC management state information can easily be converted into a voice using a data to voice conversion function included in the answer generation module 116. If body or lip movements of the icon of the virtual secretary are controlled to be harmonized with the voice, it is possible to increase the feeling of having a talk with a person. The control of body or lip movements of the virtual secretary icon can be easily implemented using known technologies for moving a character.
Further, if the user makes a voice or text request to provide business state information at step S229, a corresponding command is sent to the business management module 121 through the virtual secretary and the business management module 121 retrieves business state information from the information storage medium 117 and displays the business state information on the screen at step S231. Here,
if the virtual secretary explains the business state information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the business state information to the user. Further, when the user performs an Internet search at step S233, the information search module 124 operates to cause the virtual secretary to act as if the virtual secretary searches for information. Then, when the user views an advertisement of a specific company or purchases a product of the company, this information is transmitted to the virtual secretary provision server 300 through the control module 112 and the communication interface unit 111 at steps S235 and S237. In conjunction with the company information database 440, the company management module 313 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 checks whether or not a profit is made when the user views an advertisement of the company or purchases a product of the company and provides, if a profit is made, the profit to the profit distribution module 310. Then, the profit distribution module 310 appropriately distributes the profit to the business operator and the user. As the profit is distributed to the user, the payment management module 309 pays a corresponding amount of profit money to the user online. Here, a financial institution should be involved for the profit payment. A detailed description of the payment method is omitted herein since the
present invention employs a known online payment method without modification. Here, the user can obtain information of the payment amount through the payment module 125 of the user terminal 110. The user terminal 110 may also output a voice indicating the payment information through the virtual secretary.
Then, if the user makes a voice or text request to provide a health management state at step S239, a corresponding command is sent to the health management module 123 through the virtual secretary at step S241 and the health management module 123 retrieves health management information of the user from the information storage medium 117 and displays the health management information on the screen. Here, if the virtual secretary explains the health management information via voice, the user feels as if a real offline secretary is reporting the health management information to the user.
On the other hand, in order not only to educate the virtual secretary but also to provide necessities including food, clothing, and shelter to the virtual secretary, the user requests education state information and is notified of education state information in response to the request. Direct education may also be performed. For example, when driving instruction for taking a driver' s license exam or the like is performed using the virtual secretary, the driving
instruction is provided not only to the user but also to the virtual secretary. Various education other than the driving instruction may be performed. As the amount of education performed on the user increases, the education level of the virtual secretary increases. The user also needs to appropriately change clothing of the virtual secretary depending on the season. If the user views a house where they desire to live or views food that they desire to eat on the Internet, this causes the virtual secretary to reside in the new house or eat the food. Here, the user teaches the virtual secretary to increase the level of the virtual secretary such as the intelligence or the education level of the virtual secretary. When the education level or the intelligence of the virtual secretary is increased to some extent, the virtual secretary acts as if it has an artificial intelligence so that, when having a talk with the virtual secretary on the computer, the user feels as if they are talking with a person. This increases the feeling of familiarity of the user with the electronic device and allows the user to communicate with the computer.
The character management module 308 of the virtual secretary provision server 300 collects level information such as the education or intelligence level of the virtual secretary provided to each user and stores the collected level information in the secretary service provision database 430
and applies an advantage or penalty to each user according to the level of the corresponding virtual secretary to allow the user to improve the education or learning of the virtual secretary. The advantage may increase the share of a profit when the profit is distributed to the user or offer a present to the user, whereas the penalty may automatically destroy the virtual secretary.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention described above have been described with reference to the case where the user is near the user terminal, the present invention is not limited to that case.
For example, in one method which employs wireless communication, a user at a remote place asks a question using their mobile phone and a user terminal receives the question and generates an answer to the question through a virtual secretary and then sends the answer back to the mobile phone of the user at the remote place using an SMS message or the like. Here, the user terminal determines whether or not the user has made a request containing question information at a remote place or the user is currently located at a remote place. When it is determined that the user has made a request containing question information at a remote place or the user is currently located at a remote place, the generated answer is sent to the mobile terminal (for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, a notebook, etc., using wireless communication) held by
the user located at the remote place. Determination as to whether or not the user has made a request containing question information at a remote place or the user is currently located at a remote place can be easily implemented by the user presetting the corresponding information.
It is also apparent that schedule information can be transmitted via means such as a text (or SMS) message to a personal terminal (for example, a mobile phone) of the user located at a remote place through the virtual secretary of the user terminal.
FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary in the character provider terminal in the growing intelligence virtual secretary operating method according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 6, at step S301, a portrait right contract is made through agreement or the like with the virtual secretary provision server 300. Here, the portrait right contract is made according to a variety of general contract methods. The portrait right contract is preferably performed online. If a character representing the user is present when a portrait right contract is made, the character is provided. If no character representing the user is present, a portrait photograph of the user can only be provided to the virtual secretary provision server 300 so that
the virtual secretary provision server 300 generates a character from the portrait photograph.
Then, after the portrait right contract is completed, answers to elementary questions (i.e., basic questions) and expert questions that only the character provider terminal can answer are provided to the virtual secretary provision server
300 at step S303.
Then, when a question is received from the virtual secretary provision server 300 at step S305, an answer to the question is generated and the generated answer is transmitted to the virtual secretary provision server 300 at steps S307 and 309. Then, at step S311, a fee for the provision of the answer to the question is paid to the character provider terminal at step S311. According to the present invention, a virtual secretary is implemented and the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed to grow (or develop) the virtual secretary so that the virtual secretary acts like an offline secretary for an operator of the virtual secretary. In addition, the intelligence of the virtual secretary is improved through learning so that the virtual secretary can communicate with an operator of the virtual secretary. Further, the virtual secretary is used on a computer to improve familiarity with electronic devices, thereby imparting convenience to personal life.
As described above, the present invention has a variety of advantages. For example, it is possible to achieve human communication between PC operators or users and computers, thereby improving the familiarity of humans with electronic equipment (or computers) while preventing the decline of humanity caused by individualism that is a drawback in the modern society.
In addition, the virtual secretary is implemented on a computer such that the virtual secretary constantly learns and is constantly managed, thereby providing a virtual secretary similar to an offline secretary to an operator of the virtual secretary.
Further, the present invention provides a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system and method wherein the intelligence of a virtual secretary is improved through learning so that the virtual secretary can communicate with an operator of the virtual secretary.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system and method wherein a virtual secretary is used on a computer to improve familiarity with electronic devices, thereby imparting convenience to personal life.
Moreover, it is also possible to ask a question and to answer a question using an SMS message of a mobile phone or the like with a user at a remote place through communication.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims .
Claims
1. A growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system comprising: a user terminal that a) receives a virtual secretary as a personified character according to command information from a user and stores the virtual secretary in a storage medium, b) grows the virtual secretary through learning and management, c) generates an answer to a question asked by the user and outputs a voice indicating the answer to communicate with the user, and d) connects to the Internet or the like and then searches for information using the virtual secretary; a character provider terminal that connects to the virtual secretary provision server, which serves to conduct a virtual secretary business, through a communication network to provide character information and to provide information of an answer to a question, the character provider terminal being used by a character information provider who provides the character information; and a virtual secretary provision server that a) provides a character transmitted from the character provider terminal as a virtual secretary to the user terminal, b) distributes, when the user terminal searches for information using the virtual secretary, a profit made by a company that provides the information, and c) sends answer information, which is acquired by asking the character provider terminal a question, to the user terminal to impart intelligence to the virtual secretary.
2. The growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to claim 1, wherein the user terminal includes : a communication interface unit connected to the communication network, which allows connection to the Internet or the like, to interface data; a control module that controls overall operations of the user terminal including growth of the virtual secretary, information search using the virtual secretary, and voice recognition and output of questions and answers exchanged between the virtual secretary and the user; a voice recognition module that recognizes a voice of the user input through a microphone; an answer generation module that generates an answer to the recognized voice and generates and outputs a corresponding voice signal through a speaker; an information storage medium that stores various information including secretary information, PC management information, schedule management information, business management information, secretary education management information, health management information, and payment information; and a secretary information management module that manages basic information of the virtual secretary.
3. The growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the user terminal further includes: a PC management module that performs overall management for computer operation; a schedule management module that stores schedule information input by the user in the information storage medium and manages the stored schedule information; a business management module that stores information regarding business conducted by the user in the information storage medium and manages the stored business information; a secretary education management module that functions to educate the virtual secretary for growth of the virtual secretary and to perform management of overall necessities including food, clothing, and shelter of the virtual secretary; a health management module that manages health of the user; an information search module that connects to the Internet and then searches for information using the virtual secretary; and a payment module that performs online payment in conjunction with the information search module when the user purchases a product online and manages profit distribution information provided from the virtual secretary provision server.
4. The growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to claim 1, wherein the virtual secretary provision server includes: a communication interface unit that transmits and receives data to and from the user terminal and the character provider terminal in conjunction with the communication network; a control module that is responsible for overall control of services of the virtual secretary; a user information management module that stores and manages user information of a user who receives and uses the virtual secretary in a user information database; a character information management module that stores character information provided from the character provider terminal as a virtual secretary in a character information database and manages the stored character information; a secretary service provision database that stores information of secretary services; and a character management module that manages information including information regarding growth of the virtual secretary and information regarding usage of the virtual secretary.
5. The growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the virtual secretary provision server further includes: a payment management module that manages payment including payment made when the user uses a virtual secretary, payment made when the character provider provides a virtual secretary, and payment of a cost occurring when making a contract with a company that provides information or when searching products of the company; a profit distribution module that appropriately distributes a profit made by services of the virtual secretary; a question and answer information management module that stores information of a question generated by the user, who uses the virtual secretary, and transmits the question information to a character provider who can answer the question and stores information of an answer to the question generated by the character provider and transmits the answer information to the user terminal that has generated the question information; and a company management module that stores information of companies that sell products or the like and provide information over the Internet in a company information database and manages the stored company information.
6. The growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system according to claim 1, further comprising: a user information database that is a data storage medium for storing information of each user who receives and grows a virtual secretary and makes a profit using the virtual secretary; a character information database that is a data storage medium for storing information of a character provider who provides a virtual secretary created from a real character and information of the virtual secretary; a secretary service provision database that is a data storage medium for storing all information of secretary services; and a company information database that is a data storage medium for storing information of a company that gives a profit to a business operator when a user searches for information of the company over the Internet using a virtual secretary or checks an advertisement of the company or purchases a product from the company.
7. A method for operating a growing intelligence virtual secretary using a growing intelligence virtual secretary operation system including a user terminal, a character or virtual secretary provider terminal, a communication network, a virtual secretary provision server, a user information database, a character information database, a secretary service provision database, and a company information database, the method comprising: a virtual secretary operation procedure in the user terminal including receiving a virtual secretary as a personified character according to command information from a user and storing the virtual secretary in a storage medium, growing the stored virtual secretary through learning and management, outputting a voice indicating an answer to a question asked by the user to communicate with the user, and connecting to the Internet or the like and then searching for information using the virtual secretary; a virtual secretary operation procedure in the character provider terminal including connecting to the virtual secretary provision server, which serves to conduct a virtual secretary business, through the communication network to provide character information of the character provider terminal and to provide information of an answer to a question; and a virtual secretary operation procedure in the virtual secretary provision server including providing a character transmitted from the character provider terminal as a virtual secretary to the user terminal and distributing, when the user terminal searches for information using the virtual secretary, a profit made by a company that provides the information, and sending answer information, which is acquired by asking the character provider terminal a question, to the user terminal to impart intelligence to the virtual secretary.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the virtual secretary operation procedure in the user terminal includes the steps of: registering the user in the virtual secretary provision server; selecting a virtual secretary for use and making payment; receiving and storing information of the virtual secretary provided to the user; checking whether or not a question has been generated by the user; recognizing, when a question is generated, voice or text of the generated question; checking whether or not an answer to the question is present and generating answer data when an answer to the question is present and converting the answer data into a voice signal and outputting the voice signal through a speaker or converting the answer data into text and displaying the text on a screen; transmitting question information to the virtual secretary provision server when no answer to the question is present and storing, when an answer is received, the received answer; and providing, when the user requests use of the virtual secretary, state information corresponding to a requested use item to the user through the virtual secretary.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of providing the state information to the user through the virtual secretary includes the steps of: extracting and displaying, when a schedule is requested, schedule information on a screen and notifying the user of the schedule information through the virtual secretary; extracting and displaying, when a PC management state is requested, PC management state information on the screen and notifying the user of the PC management state information through the virtual secretary; extracting and displaying, when a business state is requested, business state information on the screen and notifying the user of the business state information through the virtual secretary; extracting and displaying, when information search is requested, search result information obtained by performing the information search over the Internet on the screen and notifying the user of the search result information through the virtual secretary; extracting and displaying, when a health management state is requested, health management state information on the screen and notifying the user of the health management state information through the virtual secretary; extracting and displaying, when an education state is requested, education state information on the screen and notifying the user of the education state information through the virtual secretary; and generating, when the user has made a request at a remote place using wireless communication or when the user is located at a remote place, information of an answer to the request and transmitting the answer information to a personal terminal of the user at the remote place through the virtual secretary.
10. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the virtual secretary operation procedure in the user terminal further includes the step of storing, when an answer to the question is received, storing the received answer and teaching the virtual secretary using the stored answer to improve intelligence of the virtual secretary.
11. The method according to claim 7, wherein the virtual secretary operation procedure in the virtual secretary provision server includes the steps of: registering a character received through the character provider terminal or a character created from a portrait photograph provided by a character provider as a virtual secretary; registering information of a company that sells products and provides information over the Internet; registering information of a user who receives and uses the virtual secretary from a website; providing, when a user selects a virtual secretary, information of the virtual secretary to the user after payment is made; calculating, when the user uses the virtual secretary or character, a point generated by the use of the virtual secretary and changing information of the user using the calculated point, and transmitting the changed information to the user through the communication network; distributing a profit made as the user uses the virtual secretary; storing, when information of a question asked of the virtual secretary is received, the received question information; transmitting, when an answer to the question is present, information of the answer to the user; and selecting, when no answer to the question is present, a virtual secretary or character provider who can answer the question and transmitting information of the question to the selected character provider and storing, when an answer to the question is received, the received answer.
12. The method according to claim 7, wherein the virtual secretary operation procedure in the character provider terminal includes the steps of: making a portrait right contract with the virtual secretary provision server online; providing, after the portrait right contract is completed, answers to basic questions of the character provider terminal to the virtual secretary provision server; and generating, when a question is received from the virtual secretary provision server, an answer to the question and transmitting the generated answer to the virtual secretary provision server; and paying a fee for the provision of the answer to the question to the character provider terminal.
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